I pray you are enjoying the bread of life, taking in daily spiritual nutrition. Your faith is being strengthened by this the very Word of God. God is filling you and transforming you, each and every time you take in His Word.
Chapter 15 starts with us abiding in Christ. To rest fully in our relationship with Christ. Do not allow yourself to become disturbed by the situations of life, but rest in our wonderful relationship with God. Now we can intellectually talk about a relationship and discuss the properties and function of a relationship, and still miss the understanding of a relationship. I feel too many can explain the components, but they have never enjoyed the fellowship of a relationship with Christ. For example I can tell you how wonderful it is to have children. (Most of the time) I can explain their activities and how we interact with one another. But there is no way to explain the day you hold your child that very first time. There are emotions and feelings as well as fears and wonders that just come on you when you hear this is your baby. It is unexplainable! Don’t settle for a text book relationship, but seek to truly abide in Christ. You need to feel that awe of knowing He is your Savior, God and Redeemer. You need to experience that awe of knowing you are safe in the arms of God’s eternal grace. When you get there, everything else disappears and the true and living God is all you can see.
Notice the same key as in yesterday’s reading in Chapter 14. Verse 10, if you keep my commandments you will abide in my love. By following God’s direction for our lives His joy remains in us. God also considered us His friend as we keep His commandments. That is a relationship God desires, one where we know He is real, and because He is God all is surrendered to Him. You will be blessed in this relationship with the living God. I know you have heard that God accepts me for me. My question is, are you accepting God as He is? God is holy, just, loving, wrathful, caring, and longsuffering to name a few. But do you accept God the way He is, or have you created a more acceptable God so He fits your life.
Through this relationship there is fruit produced in our lives. God glorifying fruit, for He is the vine causing this fruit to come out of our lives. We will have fruit that may cause the world to hate us, yes HATE. Why? Because we are so in love with God, and they see God is working in us. We must understand that God calls us out of the world into a spiritual world so that we can enjoy His friendship, His joy, and His love in our lives. The world really does not hate us, but the Christ, who causes everyone to make a choice to either be for Him or against Him.
Don’t let the world break up your relationship with God.
Comments are closed